Safety-clevis



(No Model.) 3

J. P. FORREST.

SAFETY GLBVIS.

No. 443,393. Patented Dec. 23, 1890.

W/TNZLi/SJ/ & IZENTOR: 6. Q4 v 3 B) A TTOHNE Y8 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES F. FORREST, OF POYNETTE, \VISCONSIN.

SAFETY- CLEVIS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 443,393, dated December 23, 1890.

Application filed Mare 31, 1890.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, JAMES F. FORREST, of Poynette, in the county of Columbia and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and Improved Safety-Clevis, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved safety-clevis which is simple and durable in construction, specially designed for plows and other implements, and arranged in such a manner that the team is detached from the plow when the latter strikes a rock, root, or other serious obstruction.

The invention consists of certain parts and details and combinations of the same, as will be hereinafter fully described, and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improvement, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same in an open position.

The improved safety-clevis A is provided with the two members B and O, of which the member B is pivotally connected by an ordinary clevis D with the end of the plow-beam E. The other member 0 is pivotally connected by an ordinary clevis F with the whiffletree G, to which the team is hitched. lVhen the two members B and O are in their proper place, as is illustrated in Fig. 1, the two clevises are arranged opposite each other, as is shown in the figure referred to.

In the upper end of the member B is formed a longitudinally-extending opening ll, through which is adapted to pass the lug 1, formed on the upper end of the member C, the said lug being provided near its outer end with a transverse opening I, through which is adapted to pass a break-pin J, resting against the rear edge of the upper part of the member 13. The pin J is preferably made of wood and square in crosssection, and of such strength as to bear ordinary draft, but to break easily in case the plow strikes a so rious obstruction in its path.

On the lower part of the member B is formed a longitudinally-extending opening K, into which is adapted to pass the lower end L of Serial No. 346.009. (N0 model.)

the member 0. A pin N is adapted to be held in one of a series of transverse openings 0.

formed in the lower part of the member 13, the said pin being adapted to pass atthe front edge of the lower end L of the member C. The pin N is preferably made of iron or steel, so as not to break easily. hen the two members B and O are placed in their proper position, so that the lug I extends through the opening H and the end L is in the opening K and the pins J and N are in place, as shown in Fig. 1, then the safety-clevis is ready for use, and can be easily applied to the plow.- beam by the clevis D.

Now when the team is hitched to the whiffletree G and the plow is drawn through the ground, then the pull of the team is transmitted from the whifiietree Gr by the clevis F to the member (J, and the latter by the pins J and N transmits the pull to the member B, which by the clevis D pulls the plow forward. Now when the plow strikes a rock, root, or other serious obstruction in its path, the sudden pull causes a breaking of the pin J, so that the two members 0 and B become detached from each other, whereby the team is also detached from the plow, thus preventing breaking of the plow, at the same time avoiding any injury to the animals, which would naturally occur by the sudden back-pull on their shoulders. hen the operator has loosened the plow and backed up the team, he places the two members 0 and B again in proper position and inserts a new wooden pin J into the lug I at the rear edge of the upper end of the member B. The safety-clevis then again connects the team with the plow.

In order to readily adjust the member C on the member B, a transverse handle P is formed on the upper end of the said member 0, as is plainly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The position of the pin N can be changed, according to the strain necessary for the pin J to bear before breaking-that is to say, byinserting the pin N in the lowermost aperture 0 the leverage between the pin N and clevis F is considerably more than if the pin N were inserted in one of the uppermost apertures O. Consequently the pin J will break easier when the pin N is in the lowermost of the set of apertures than when it is in one of the others.

IOC

By thus adjusting the pin N the operator is enabled to regulate beforehand, approximately, the strain necessary to break the pin J, according to the material of which the latter is made, and according to the draft that is to be upon the plow.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A safety-clevis consisting in the member B, adapted to be secured to a plow or other device, and provided with a vertical longitudinal slot K, having a transverse pin passing therethrough, and a slot II at the upper end of said member, and a separable member C, having a lower straight end L within the slot, with its front edge bearing against said pin and a rearward extending projection at the upper end of the member O to pass through the slot II and receive a break-pin, and a draft connection on the member C, whereby when the break-pin is broken the part L will be pulled out of the slot K and the member Cwill becomewhollydisconneeted from the member B, substantially as set forth.

2. A safety-clevis consisting in a member 13, provided with a vertically-slotted lower portion having series of perforations, a vertically-adjustable fulcrum-pin therein, a slot II at the upper end of said member 13, and means for connecting the member to a plow or other device, and a member (J, having a draft connection, a lower part L in the lower slotted part of member 13 and hearing at its forward edge against the fulcrum-pin, and an apertured projection I, passing through the slot 11 to receive a break-pin J, whereby the fulcrum-pin may be adjusted without changing the relative location of the draft attachment on the member substantially as set forth.

3. A safety-clevis consisting in a member I}, having a vertical slot K in its lower portion, the walls of which have a vertical series of apertures and provided with an adjustable fulcru1n-pin,a slot H in the upper part of said member, and a clevis l), pivoted on its rear side, the member C, having a straight lower portion L in said slot K and hearing at its forward edge on the fulcrum-pin, a projection I, passing through the slot II and having a transverse aperture 1' to receive a break-pin, and a clcvis l on the forward side of the member substantially as set forth.

Witnesses:

.lpums THOMPSON, AUGUST II. KAmNs. 

